Where are all the old, Southern homes?!?

[AppalachianAngler]

They are all going to be in Memphis proper (Central Gardens, Midtown, North/South Parkway, Chickasaw Gardens, Central Ave) except those on the surrounding counties that are on large isolated farms. Those folks send their kids to private school. You are not going to get anything like that in Arlington, Bartlett, Lakeland, etc.

Most of Germantown houses were built in the '80s or '90s so you won't get that there, either, for the most part.

[Bamaman1]

Ohhh, it's easy to open a can of worms on this subject. To answer your question, in Memphis the older homes are down off South Parkway in the Garden District or in Central Gardens.

But your desire not to spend $10-20K per year on private schools limits you to living far out in the Shelby County.

Many of the great antebellum homes in the south were plantation homes up and down the river in The Delta. Fires, the Civil War and floods have taken most of them out. Otherwise, most remaining old mansions are along the Natchez Trace from Nashville to Natchez, Mississippi. The largest homes and the best preserved mansions are in Franklin & Columbia, TN area. Holly Springs also has a half dozen such homes, but it's a very undesirable place to live.

My college roommate was raised in: RattleandSnapMansion.com

I would suggest you limit your search to between Germantown and Collierville and the areas north of Poplar Ave.--south of Arlington.

Our daughter lives in Arlington, and I am amazed at how beautiful the homes are on the country lanes are south of I-40--north of Collierville. The trick is to find homes outside of the City of Memphis to avoid double property taxes.

[Comingtomemphis]

Downtown, anything decent under $500k is gone in a day. Over $1 million they tend to hang around. We bought two properties during the recession, which turned out to be good timing.

[Geneyus]

Originally Posted by adrienneliq

Thank you all...your responses really explained this issue to me very well. I guess my daydreams of sipping tea on the front porch of my old, haunted southern home will remain in the romance novels...lol. Still excited to move to TN and find our perfect place to call home!

When considering houses, look at the design and whether you can add onto it if needed. Screened porches are like gold around here with the hot sun and humid air. If you find a house you like that doesn't have one, maybe you can add one. I love sitting outside with the porch ceiling fans on high, bug-free, with my favorite beverages.

[Ginsaw]

If the OP is still following this, I'd start with deciding what type of "old Southern style" home you want and figure out what you can afford, because they tend to be pricey. But such ARE definitely available, depending on your taste.

Start by understanding you're mostly looking for something old. That type of building style does not exist in the modern world. It tends to be highly customized and would be expensive to reproduce, especially the ornate brickwork. And many also tend to be wood frame, which is not the current style. So even in the most expensive grandest of whatever they've got in Germantown, it's just not the same. A "McMansion" big enough for ten to live in is probably not what I think you're looking for.

And so. Start your search with La Grange, fifty miles east of Memphis. That in my opinion is what you're looking for. You might actually find one for sale that is affordable. And, you can build one or have it built there. This is closer than Holly Springs and possibly safer.

The "look" is white wood frame with green roofs and shutters. That's practically required. They all have that. And they are adorable and mostly not all that big. You can find the cottage look, which is typical and attractive. Along with the much larger two stories and columns, reminiscent of Faulkner's famous Rowan Oak place at Oxford. And some are really old complete with historical markers and others are recent but have "that look". It's rural, so you can do the mint julips while sitting on the veranda thing, which would look funny to say the least in Chickasaw Gardens or any highly built up area...